Organ-on-chip dev Emulate raises $29m

Boston-based biotech developer Emulate Inc. said yesterday it raised $28.7 million in a Series B round of financing looking to boost its organ-on-chip technology, and looks to bring in another $16.3 million before the round closes.

The company is developing organ-on-chip technologies, which “places living human cells in micro-engineered environments” to provide insight into the inner workings of the human body, as part of what it calls its “Human Emulation System”, according to its website.

Emulate said the new technology will allow for a more precise understanding of human responses compared to current cell culture or animal based testing methods. The company said it’s system includes organ-chips, instrumentation and software apps to allow for researchers and product developers to easily integrate it into current research and development work flows.

“This financing positions Emulate to advance our organs-on-chips to the next stage of commercial development, so that our technology can operate as a plug-and-play system in the hands of product development teams at pharmaceutical, chemical, food, and consumer products companies. Based on our active R&D collaborations with industry and academic leaders, we recognize the broad potential for our Human Emulation System to help accelerate development cycles and improve products, as well as opening up new opportunities for disease understanding and personal health applications. With this financing — and the support of a group of such high-quality investors who share our vision — we are commercializing our system and products to pursue a wide range of applications for the organs-on-chips technology, to enable positive impact throughout many industries,” CEO James Coon said in a prepared statement.

The company said its Series B round will allow it to accelerate its R&D and expedite the launch of its products, as well as expanding strategic relationships in industry and academia.

“We have already seen exciting new discoveries and insights from using organs-on-chips as a new way to evaluate human response, and to better understand biology and disease — leading to new and improved development of products that impact people’s lives. As we launch our automated Human Emulation System, it will empower a host of researchers at locations throughout the world to advance new research findings and innovative product development. In addition to evolving with greater accessibility as a plug-and-play system to be used by any researcher, our system is growing in functionality to include additional organ-chips as well as disease-state applications in core areas of Emulate’s research focus — including neurodegenerative diseases, oncology and the microbiome,” CSO Geraldine Hamilton said in a press release.

Funding in the equity round came from 10 sources, according to an SEC filing, including existing investors Hansjörg Wyss, NanoDimension and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and new investors OS Fund, Atel Ventures, ALS Finding a Cure.

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